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Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009

Urquizo wins 2nd state title

FRESNO -- Chris Urquizo changed schools, counties and weight classes, but kept the same year-end reservation:

Top of the hill.

Less than a year after winning a CIF state championship, Urquizo, now a freshman at Fresno City, won the 157-pound title at the Community College Athletic Association State Championships over the weekend.

"Chris had one hell of a tournament," Fresno City coach Paul Keysaw said. "He really had a great gameplan and wrestled his best match of the season in the final."

Urquizo beat Shasta sophomore Tim Navarrette in the championship round 6-4, avenging two consecutive losses to his nemesis.

"It doesn't get old," Urquizo said of that title-winning feeling; he won the 152-pound state title as a senior at Merced High in March.

"If feels great, another one in the same year. It's been a good experience at Fresno City. It's been way tougher than high school"

Way.

Navarrette had Urquizo's number heading into the final at Chabot College, beating him in tournaments at Modesto Junior College and West Valley.

"It was his style," Urquizo said. "It was the same as mine. He wasn't predictable. He would do something different every time, even on the bottom. That's what got me. He was so quick that he'd always reverse me."

That came to a stop on Saturday as Urquizo joined his older brother Steven in the Ram record books as a state champion.

Steven -- now wrestling at Dickinson State, an NAIA college in South Dakota -- won the 184-pound crown for the Rams in 2008.

"My brother, he always told me to wrestle," Chris said. "I always like the way he wrestled, so I just stuck with it. Winning a state title after him is huge honor -- especially here at Fresno City."

The younger Urquizo entered the tournament ranked third in his weight class and went 3-0 in the tournament after receiving a first-round bye. He beat Mt. San Antonio College's Chris Abeyta 18-1 in the second round and Ted Bristol of Santa Ana 9-7 in the third, setting up a fifth meeting with Navarrette, the state's top-ranked 157-pounder.

"We won the first and last meeting (with Navarrette) and that's all that matters," Keysaw said. "I think that speaks volumes about how he's matured and grown.

"He had to adjust his style a little bit. It's been a pleasure to watch him grow."

Urquizo (25-5) will return for his sophomore season, hoping to add a third consecutive state title to his résumé.

"That's my hope," he said."

Former Buhach Colony stars Adam Obad and Daniel Osmer also placed at the community college state championships.

Obad, wrestling with Modesto JC, finished sixth in the 157-pound weight class. He went 2-3.

Osmer, Urquizo's teammate at FCC, returned to the mats this season and finished third at 133s.

He beat Santa Ana's Jason Arreola by decision in the third-place match, 10-7.

The North's top seed, Osmer fell into the consolation bracket after his first match. He won his next four to medal.

Fresno City finished third in the overall team standings.